News updates: Terrorists kidnap, kill 2 village defence guards in J&K's Kishtwar

Latest news updates: Catch all the latest news developments from across the world here

11:13 PM

Terrorists kidnap, kill 2 village defence guards in J&K's Kishtwar

Two village defence guards have been kidnapped and killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district. The attack comes days after at least 12 people were injured in a grenade attack at a Sunday market in Srinagar. Officials said the two members of a village defence committee, Nazir Ahmad and Kuldeep Kumar, were kidnapped from a forest area in Kishtwar on Thursday and then shot dead. "A massive search operation has been launched to hunt down the terrorists," said an official. Village defence committees were set up by the Jammu and Kashmir Police to train local residents to protect their villages from terrorists.

9:37 PM

Mahindra Group expects express biz to turn profitable amid focus on cost efficiency

Mahindra Group on Thursday said it is expecting its express business to turn profitable amid its focus on getting back volumes to achieve cost efficiency.

It also said the turnaround in the express business will bring the overall profitability in the logistics business.
 

The group's arm Mahindra Logistics Ltd (MLL) acquired the B2B express business of Rivigo in September 2022 and brought it under the MLL Express Services.

MLL saw its consolidated profit after tax declining 33 per cent to Rs 10.7 crore in the September quarter from Rs 15.9 crore in the same quarter of the last year.

8:47 PM

Congress President Kharge accuses Modi of failing to deliver on landslide relief promises in Wayanad

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not providing the help he promised to the landslide-affected people of Kerala's Wayanad district.
 

Addressing a by-election meeting organised in support of Congress candidate Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the Nilambur assembly segment of the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, Kharge came down heavily on Modi, calling him a "liar." Referring to the promise made by the prime minister after visiting the landslide-hit areas of Wayanad district, the Congress president said Modi's promise turned out to be hollow words.
 

"While Kerala submitted a detailed compensation package of Rs 2,000 crore for disaster relief, only a meagre sum of Rs 291 crore was sanctioned. That's why I always used to say Modi is a bogus man. He is a liar." Kharge alleged that the BJP-led Centre discriminated against opposition-ruled states in providing disaster relief.

7:50 PM

DGTR for anti-dumping duty on certain type of solar glass from China, Vietnam

The commerce ministry has recommended imposition of an anti-dumping duty of up to USD 677 per tonne on imports of a certain type of solar glass from China and Vietnam, with an aim to guard domestic producers.
 

In its preliminary findings, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), a wing of the ministry, has concluded that 'Textured Toughened (Tempered) Coated and Uncoated Glass' have been exported to India at a price below the normal value, resulting in dumping.

7:06 PM

IHCL Q2 net profit zooms more than 3-fold to Rs 582.71 cr

Indian Hotels Company Ltd on Thursday reported a more than three-fold rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 582.71 crore for the second quarter of 2024-25, helped by exceptional gains from the consolidation of its air and institutional catering business segment TajSATS.

 

The country's largest hospitality firm had registered a net profit of Rs 178.97 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.

 

Its revenue from operations increased to Rs 1,826.12 crore in the June-September quarter from Rs 1,433.20 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last financial year.

 

However, during the period under review, IHCL's expenses also rose to Rs 1,502.01 crore, as against Rs 1,248.68 crore a year ago.

 

5:55 PM

New SC rules rechristen summer breaks as 'partial court working days', vacation judge as judge

The development was a part of an amendment in Supreme Court Rules, 2013, which have now become Supreme Court (Second Amendment) Rules, 2024, notified on November 5.

5:38 PM

Congress has lost its moorings, is on a steady state of decline, says Scindia

Scindia, who quit the Congress in 2020 to join the BJP, said his former party has lost its connect in terms of leadership.
"I think the Congress Party has lost its moorings. There's no debate about that, it has lost its moorings," he said in a text and video interview with PTI. He was asked if the Congress party had lost the momentum after better-than-expected performance in the April-May general elections.

5:34 PM

Public adaption finance grew by 32% in 2022, but large gap remains: UN report

The "Adaptation Gap Report 2024: Come Hell and High Water" from the United Nations Environment Programme on Thursday said even achieving the Glasgow Climate Pact goal would only reduce the adaptation finance gap, estimated at USD 187-359 billion per year, by around 5 per cent.

5:16 PM

ED searches 19 premises of Amazon, Flipkart vendors in FEMA probe

A total of 19 premises of these "preferred" vendors located in Delhi, Gurugram and Panchkula (Haryana), Hyderabad (Telangana) and Bengaluru (Karnataka) were covered as part of the action, they said.

5:13 PM

Delhi HC closes plea against ban on Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses'

In an order passed on November 5, a bench headed by Justice Rekha Palli observed that the petition, which was pending since 2019, was therefore infructuous and the petitioner would be be entitled to take all actions in respect of the book as available in law.

4:59 PM

Shah Rukh Khan receives death threat; Mumbai police summon Raipur lawyer

The Mumbai police have summoned a lawyer from Raipur as the threat call was made from a phone number registered in his name, a senior police official from the Chhattisgarh capital said. The lawyer told the police that he lost his phone last week and had filed a police complaint, the official said.

4:50 PM

Five held for manufacturing, selling adulterated 'desi ghee' in Delhi-NCR

The accused -- Ritik Khandelwal (24), Sanjay Bansal (48), Rohit Aggarwal (44), Krishan Goyal (32) and Ashwani (32) -- were arrested from Delhi and Jind district in Haryana where the police claimed to have busted a factory and a godown used for manufacturing and storing fake ghee, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Satish Kumar said.

4:40 PM

Govt to bring national counter-terrorism policy soon, says Amit Shah

Addressing an anti-terrorism conference here, Shah also said that while law and order is a state subject and states have the geographical boundaries and constitutional limitations, terrorism doesn't and hence all security agencies -- central and states -- must work in close coordination, chalk out joint strategies and share intelligence.

4:38 PM

Himachal Congress chief denies factionalism in party

A day after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge dissolved the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) unit in Himachal Pradesh along with the district and block units, the state Congress chief on Thursday said she had been batting for 'one man, one post' for long after formation of the Congress government in the state.

4:03 PM

Rupee falls 6 paise to fresh all-time low of 84.37 against US dollar

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 84.26 against the US dollar. During the session, the local currency touched a high of 84.26 and a low of 84.38. It finally settled at 84.37 (provisional), a loss of 6 paise against its previous close.

3:57 PM

BJP fixes its agenda by targeting particular community: Jharkhand CM

BJP leaders have been claiming in their political rallies that Jharkhand's 'Mati, Beti and Roti' are under threat due to Bangladeshi infiltrators.

3:52 PM

SC refuses to transfer Kolkata rape-murder case trial outside West Bengal

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said the trial court judge had sufficient powers to order another investigation upon feeling it necessary after examining the evidence

3:40 PM

Pollution in Andhra's Vashishta Godavari River: NGT forms panel

The NGT was hearing a plea claiming that the municipality of Narsapur, a town in the state's west Godavari district, had been dumping garbage in the river and its flood bank for the past several years in violation of the Coastal Zone Regulations and Solid Waste Management Rules.

3:33 PM

Bhutan PM invites Indian investors for individual as well as collaborative ventures

Speaking at the opening of the first Integrated Check Post (ICP) along the India-Bhutan border at Darranga in Assam, Tobgay said, "We (Bhutanese) didn't need a passport to enter through Assam, but tourists from other countries needed it."

3:25 PM

BJP cemented Goa's political stability under CM Sawant: Party leaders

BJP leader Sawant, who took over reigns of the state in March 19, 2019 after the demise of then chief minister Manohar Parrikar and successfully contested the 2022 election, has now become the longest serving chief minister of Goa after it attained statehood 1987.

3:22 PM

Cong's disinformation campaign failed, public aware of truth: Union minister Rijiju

He targeted Rahul Gandhi over the latter's visit to Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, where Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar had embraced Buddhism 68 years ago, on Wednesday and attacked the Congress over historical political events and for treating Muslims as a vote bank.

2:40 PM

Elaborate security arrangements made for 'Chhath Puja' in Bihar

Elaborate arrangements have been made by the Bihar government across the state for the third day of the Chhath Puja festivities on Thursday when millions of devotees are expected to offer prayers at various ghats of the Ganga, officials said.

1:43 PM

BJP takes swipe at Uddhav for releasing Sena (UBT) manifesto from home

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Thursday took a dig at Uddhav Thackeray for releasing his party's manifesto from home, claiming the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader was focussing more on his family and neglecting the wider community. A true leader is the one who is present and ready to serve the people at their doorsteps, not someone who prefers to remain indoors, Bawankule said.

1:07 PM

Encounter in J&K's Kupwara, terrorist killed

A terrorist was killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, officials said on Thursday. They said the operation was successfully concluded, resulting in the killing of a terrorist. An AK rifle, two hand grenades, and four AK rifle magazines, were recovered from the site of the encounter, the officials added.

12:46 PM

Armed men loot truck driver in Kolkata, flee with vehicle

Five armed men robbed a truck driver at gunpoint and then fled with the vehicle, a senior police officer said on Thursday. The incident took place on Kakurgachi Main Road near Manicktala area here around 2am on Wednesday, he said. Driver Devendra Chaubey claimed that after unloading the vehicle, he was driving along Manicktala Main Road towards Strand Road when a speeding car from the opposite direction stopped his way, the officer added.

12:41 PM

PDP, Peoples' Conference MLAs submit fresh resolution in J-K Assembly

A group of MLAs, including from the PDP and the Peoples' Conference, on Thursday submitted a fresh resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly demanding immediate restoration of Articles 370 and 35A in their original form. They also called for the reversal of all changes introduced in the Union territory after the erstwhile state was stripped of its special status in 2019.

11:58 AM

Recruitment rules for govt jobs can't be changed midway unless prescribed: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday held that recruitment rules for appointment in government jobs cannot be changed midway unless it is prescribed. A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud held that 'rules of the game' once set before the start of recruitment process cannot be tinkered with midway.

11:02 AM

Uddhav's Sena (UBT) releases manifesto; promises free education, scrapping of Dharavi project

Shiv Sena (UBT) Uddhav Thackeray unveiled his party's manifesto for the Maharashtra assembly polls, assuring free education for male students, stabilising prices of essential items and scrapping of the Dharavi redevelopment project. Thackeray said most of the poll promises are part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) overall assurances, but there are some points which need special attention.

10:35 AM

Waqf Row: JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal meets farmers in Karnataka

Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) Chairman Jagdambika Pal on Thursday morning visited Karnataka amid the ongoing Waqf row and said that farmers in north Karnataka are claiming that the Waqf board was claiming land that belonged to them. The JPC has been formed to review the Waqf Amendment Bill introduced this year in the Parliament. The farmers say that they have been here for almost 70 years, but despite that the Waqf board is claiming ownership of their land, Pal added.

10:29 AM

IIT Bhubaneswar, MOSart Labs launch diploma in semiconductor technology, chip design

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar, in association with MOSart Labs, has launched a professional diploma programme in semiconductor technology and chip design for engineering graduates. The course aims to upskill engineering pass-outs, making them industry-ready in various specialisations of very-large-scale integration (VLSI) including semiconductor technology, analog design, digital design, design verification, physical design, layout design, validation, test and measurements, the institute said in a statement on Wednesday.